


Affections

by Esselle



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Universe, Dating, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Third Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 16:59:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16580441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esselle/pseuds/Esselle
Summary: Kei can't stand either of them, or the way they make him feel. Yamaguchi was right; he really is a masochist.One of the things they like to do that drives him absolutely crazy (in a bad way, absolutely not stomach-butterflies, heart-fluttery kind of crazy, at all, that has never happened) iscompete for his affections.--When the vote for volleyball team captain doesn't go as he expects in their third year, Kei has to come to terms with why, exactly, he finds Kageyama's and Hinata's constant flirting with him so damn frustrating.





	Affections

**Author's Note:**

> My fic for the [Haikyuu Rarepair Zine](https://hqrarepairzine.tumblr.com/)! It was so wonderful getting to work on this project, and the finished book is beautiful T_T And of course, I got to write one of my favorite OT3s ever :DDD

In all honesty, Kei doesn't understand what possessed him to make the unbelievably illogical and _stupid_ decision to agree to start dating Kageyama and Hinata in the first place.

Alright—that wasn't entirely true. There had been influencing factors. There had been Yamaguchi telling Kei he was a masochist anyway, so he might as well go for it, which was annoying enough that Kei took matters into his own hands to shut Yamaguchi up.

Then came the dawning horror that rather than get pissed off whenever Kei addressed him as "Your Highness," Kageyama had started smirking viciously instead, arguing with Kei instead of responding in grunts or glares. That had done a number on Kei, even he's big enough to admit it. No one else on the team really shares his affinity for pure, blunt vitriol besides Kageyama. Combined with the way Kageyama had started bursting out of all his gym shirts early into second year like some kind of volleyball adonis, this had been a fatal strike on Kei's mind and his libido.

So he started dating Kageyama.

Exactly as planned, this had the effect of making Hinata dissolve into Permanent Gremlin Mode, skulking about and avoiding the two of them until Kei had mentioned offhand that if Hinata was _so jealous_ , all he needed to do was say he wanted in on the whole deal. He was already prepared for how annoying this would be; but the thing that gets Kei about Hinata now is that there are times when Hinata _isn't_ annoying when Kei expects it, and that's just… wrong, somehow.

Instead of being blindly happy or stupidly contrary or anything, Hinata had just stopped in his tracks and said, "That's all I have to say?"

"Uh," Kei said. Kageyama had been there, and it had occurred to Kei belatedly that he'd never even asked him what he thought—it just seemed obvious. "Yeah."

Hinata squared himself up in front of the two of them.

"I'm really jealous," he said. "Every time I see you guys together without me it makes my whole heart wanna explode—"

"Hinata," Kageyama had interrupted impatiently, "shut the fuck up already and give me a hug."

Kei can't stand either of them, or the way they make him feel. Yamaguchi was right; he really is a masochist.

One of the things they like to do that drives him absolutely crazy (in a bad way, absolutely not stomach-butterflies, heart-fluttery kind of crazy, at all, that has never happened) is _compete for his affections_.

They fight to open doors for him, and over who gets to make him lunch. They compliment him a lot, which he _hates_. Hinata's flattery tends to sound like he asked Bokuto-senpai and Kuroo-senpai for things to say, so it is always _awful;_ and Kageyama still can't make it through most compliments without stuttering, usually over something like trying to tell Kei that his water bottle is cool (it's the _same fucking bottle_ they all use for practice). The worst part is that Kei's ears burn red every time, probably because they are both so tragically dumb.

He knows all the over the top romantic gestures are because the two of them don't know the meaning of subtle; somehow, it's ceased to be the most annoying thing in the world to him, and has instead just become a part of his daily life. But it is still painful to watch, and it all comes to a head the day they're meant to be voting on the new volleyball team captain for third year.

Personally, Kei thinks this is a stupid way of deciding things; Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei should have final say, or at least get to cast a vote. But, of course, this is one of those "sacred volleyball traditions" he doesn't understand.

It will go like this: Kei is going to vote for Yamaguchi, who is going to vote for him, and his idiot duo are both going to vote for themselves, so this is all going to be pointless. Honestly, Kei should just vote for himself, and then there can be a battle royale for vice captain—only he's not going to because Kei knows he would make for just about the worst captain Karasuno's ever had, and he actually, secretly, kind of likes his team and doesn't want them to crash and burn on his account. Especially not on his account.

Things start off as expected.

"Let's go in… backwards order!" Hinata says. So Yamaguchi, who has jersey number nine this year says,

"I vote for Tsukki!"

Hinata makes an unnecessary mark on the unnecessary paper he's using to unnecessarily keep score—one little black tick under Kei's name. They all look to him next.

"I vote for Yamaguchi," Kei says blandly. Yamaguchi rolls his eyes, like he knows exactly what Kei is doing. Hinata puts a tick under Yamaguchi's name.

"You're next," Kageyama says, elbowing Hinata.

"I know!" Hinata says. The two of them exchange a weirdly significant glance, and then Hinata says, "I vote for Tsukishima."

Kei blinks. What.

Kageyama says, "I vote for Tsukishima, too, so."

He just stops there. _So_. Tsukishima stares at him.

He wants to tell Hinata to cut it out, as Hinata makes the third tick under his name. But he doesn't know what to say, or how to explain that what just happened is stupid and wrong, and then Hinata says,

"So Tsukishima is captain next year!" He nods decisively.

"Congratulations, Tsukki," Yamaguchi says, looking entirely like he expected this. How the hell was Yamaguchi expecting that? Why did all three of them vote for him? What was with that _look_ between Kageyama and Hinata?

"He totally didn't think we would," Hinata says, and then he's grinning. "Hey, were you surprised? When I said it?"

Kageyama glares at him. "That's why you wanted to go in that order? Because you wanted to surprise him first?"

Hinata cackles. "You jealous?"

Kei stares and stares at the three little tick marks on Hinata's paper. He knows they all like to joke around. He knows that Kageyama and Hinata like to compete over everything, even him. He knows it doesn't really mean anything.

But it _should_. Right now, it should mean something to them. Because even if it's not easy to admit, this is something that would mean a lot to Kei. And he doesn't just want it thrown at him so he can be a prize in one of their competitions.

He stands, abruptly, and the laughter on Hinata's face fades at his expression.

"Pick somebody else," he says. He walks out without another word.

*

Kei doesn't even look at his phone the rest of that evening. This is partially because he doesn't want to talk to Kageyama or Hinata, but also because he feels the steady churning of embarrassment inside his gut.

 _How lame._ Why does he even care so much about any of this? The captain position, the vote, even the reason behind all their stupid posturing for his attention. But he can't stop the little voice in his head from nagging at him. _It's just one more competition for them. I don't even matter_.

He skips morning practice the next day and manages to avoid the two of them using strategically placed trips to the bathroom. But by the time school ends, he realizes it will be more painful to explain to them why he's hiding than it will be to go to practice. Still, he refuses to make eye contact with Kageyama and Hinata.

They aren't having it. After practice ends, they corner him.

At the sound of the equipment room door slamming shut behind him, Kei whirls around to see Kageyama and Hinata standing there. Hinata looks anxious; Kageyama, livid.

"What the hell's going on with you?" Kageyama demands. "If you don't want to be captain—if you still think you're so above it all, then just—"

 _"Tobio,"_ Hinata admonishes, and Kageyama falls silent. Hinata levels Kei with an intense stare. "Let him explain."

Kei briefly considers letting them wallow in their confusion. But no—this is his problem, and they're probably both too oblivious to figure it out anyway. He sighs.

"I don't want you to pick me so you both can one-up each other in boyfriend points for some stupid competition," he says. "If we need to vote again, fine, but just… choose who you think would be best, this time."

The other two exchange a dumbfounded look. "That's… why we voted for you," Hinata says. _"_ You're the best choice!"

"Why wouldn't I pick the best person?" Kageyama asks gruffly. "It's going to be our third year, we _have_ to be the best."

For a moment, Kei stares at them. Then he starts to laugh; he can't _stop_ laughing. Maybe it's because, for _once_ , they weren't the biggest idiots. Or maybe… maybe it's just relief.

How he could have ever thought either of them would compromise their volleyball fanaticism for something so _stupid?_

"We all thought that you probably wouldn't vote for yourself," Hinata says, hesitantly. "Actually, we'd each decided on our own to pick you anyway, but—I mean, we just wanted you to know."

"Know what?" Kei asks. To his horror, his voice is oddly hoarse. He clears his throat.

Hinata takes a couple little steps forward, and then he's very close, and then he's wrapping his arms around Kei's middle. He's still _so much_ smaller. He rests his cheek against Kei's chest and breathes with him.

"That _you're_ our choice for captain," Hinata says. "We support you. And me and Tobio… we're really glad you let us do that."

Kei decides to return the hug. Kageyama steps up to put his arms around them both. Prior to the relationship, Kei had believed Kageyama to be the least hug-capable person on the planet, but that has turned out not to be the case at all.

"You're stupid," Kageyama says.

"I think the issue was I couldn't lower my basic thought processes to your level," Kei says. "Things function very slowly there."

"You're such an—"

"He means 'thanks'," Hinata says, looking up to grin at Kei, and Kei doesn't correct him. Because Hinata is regrettably correct already.

And even Kageyama is oddly perceptive, sometimes.

"It's not just—" he says, still sounding unbelievably grumpy, "I mean, it _is_ a competition, but that doesn't make it stupid. That doesn't mean you aren't as important as the other stuff."

Kei is about to say that this is contradictory, when it clicks. The other stuff the two of them compete over: food. Athletics. _Volleyball_. To heathens like them, there isn't space in their heads for anything greater. Except now… now they compete over Kei, too. It's their own weird, completely stupid, horribly sweet way of showing how much they care.

And (despite himself) Kei cares about them both just as intensely. God, he's really screwed.

"Alright," he says, "I can pretend I understand. As long as…" He makes a show of thinking, aware of all their attention being acutely focused on him. It's not the worst feeling. "We all agree that it's _me_ who makes Kageyama's favorite pork curry the best. I'm a much better cook than Hinata."

Hinata's cheeks puff indignantly, but it's true, so he can't argue. Kageyama nods, and demurely kisses Kei on the cheek.

"And," Kei continues, "I'm still taller than you, Kageyama. And I'm better at blocking, so Hinata likes trying to spike past me the most."

Kageyama goes red in the face, and Hinata elbows him in the stomach, before standing on his tiptoes to kiss Kei's chin.

There are no arguments. Kei smirks in as superior a fashion as he can manage. "Guess that makes me the best boyfriend after all."

Hinata beams up at him. "You should let us tell you you're awesome more often!"

"Absolutely not."

Kei doesn't need them to say it with words. They do enough to make sure he knows, already—and that's why he loves them.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [Multishipping at [@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


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